


Blacklight

by JadeDraggy2017



Category: Persona 5
Genre: Aftercare, Alpha Akechi Goro, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Universe, Blow Jobs, Bottom Kurusu Akira, Crying During Sex, Dubious Consent, Fighting, First Time, Implied Drug Use, M/M, Omega Kurusu Akira, Omega Verse, Omegas have both, Possessive Behavior, Praise Kink, Slight chocking, Top Akechi Goro, Underage Drinking, Vaginal Sex, aggressive sex, night club
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-09
Updated: 2021-03-09
Packaged: 2021-03-15 18:00:09
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 17,724
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29937237
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JadeDraggy2017/pseuds/JadeDraggy2017
Summary: Akira can't get over Goro's betrayal. They aren't mates but he feels like his heart's been ripped out. So his solution to soothe his broken heart?A one night stand at Shinjuku's most popular club.
Relationships: Akechi Goro/Amamiya Ren, Akechi Goro/Kurusu Akira, Akechi Goro/Persona 5 Protagonist, Original Male Character(s)/Kurusu Akira, Original Male Character(s)/Persona 5 Protagonist
Comments: 11
Kudos: 117





	Blacklight

**Author's Note:**

> So not like, my usual stuff at all. I actually started writing this for Top Goro Week, and then Documents started crashing every time I saved and I lost like 5 pages of work. So I quit. And then I rewrote it two weeks after Top Goro Week ended. And then I just left it to rot on Google Drives until [ TwilightKnight](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TwilightKnight17/pseuds/TwilightKnight17) told me to post this, after she edited.
> 
> So, yeah. Not my normal, but I have a weird relationship with A/B/O and actually a lot of the ideas for this fic are born from talking to various ppl across many discords. Will I ever touch it again? Who knows!
> 
> Follow me for insanity:  
> [tumblr](https://adraggynamedjade.tumblr.com/)  
> [@draggynamed](https://twitter.com/draggynamed)  
> 

Akira was certain that Futaba didn’t have cameras in the café, just audio bugs, so sneaking out was going to be easy. He just had to make sure the bell didn’t ring as he left.

He slowly unlocked the door, reached up to hold the bell in one hand, and used his other to slowly slip it off its hook. He then turned and placed it on the counter next to the phone.

That would be fine, as long as he was back before Sojiro arrived to open the place in the morning – which he would be. Even if he missed the last train tonight, he could grab the first one in the morning.

Maybe he should set an alarm on his phone now before he forgot…

Akira shook his head, reassuring himself that wouldn’t be necessary, and did his best to tame his nerves as he opened the door. He stepped out, glancing around as if expecting to see Morgana coming back to the shop. Once he was certain there was no one around except the nightly drunk, he locked the door and set off for the subway at a brisk pace.

He tightly pulled his jacket around him, anxious that someone would see him and ask where he was going. It wasn’t quite cold enough for his heavy winter coat, but it was all that he had to keep himself covered past his waist.

Hopefully, no one would ask.

The heels of his new shoes clacked along the narrow streets as he approached the steps; he’d bought them yesterday while everyone was at school. A pair of ankle-cut high heel boots, with a zipper on the side. He felt them echoing a bit too loudly against the walls of the train station as he descended the stairs, as if trying to scream across the subdivision to alert the Sakura household that their ward was not snuggled up in a ramshackle nest on the attic floor, but instead going out into the unknown night.

He stood at the edge of the platform, took a few anxious breaths, and wondered if he should do this.

He could still turn around.

He could still do as he promised Morgana he would.

But then the nerves in his stomach would probably never settle.

He wondered if he should chalk this up to being an omega. This constant, anxious sickness in his gut had developed since he stopped seeing him.

He hadn’t been well since the twentieth; they all knew it.

At first, he wrote it off as injuries or lingering effects from the drugs. And then he played it off as shock that the man who falsely accused him was also the one at the source of the conspiracy. Makoto had been doing her best to take charge while he recovered; he could tell she felt somewhat responsible for how badly the interrogation had messed him up. Even if she wasn’t the leader, she was set on protecting their pack.

He was thankful to have an alpha like her on his side, and no longer against him. Deceiving her only made his stomach more upset. He kept going over the text exchange he’d had with her after school about going to the cruise ship or taking on a few Mementos requests.

**_Makoto:_ ** _ Are you sure you don’t want to go today? _

**_Akira:_ ** _ I just need some time to rest. I think my last back-flip upset one of the bruises on my knee. _

**_Makoto:_ ** _ We could come over and help you out? Ryuji will run to your side if your injuries are bothering you. Literally. _

**_Akira:_ ** _ No. I just want to rest up. We’ll check out the ship for the second letter tomorrow. _

**_Makoto:_ ** _ Sounds good. Call me if you need anything. _

Akira exhaled and started tapping the toes of his boot against the tile. It wasn’t like there were any obvious red flags in the exchange. But he was certain she knew he was lying. It was the ‘call me’, not ‘call us’, that made him doubt.

She wasn’t his alpha. But outside the Metaverse, she’d become very defensive of him.

Especially when it came to Akechi.

Makoto knew Akira could fight his way out of any battle, but the intense glares he watched her send Akechi’s way from across the meeting table were superhuman. Akechi, of course, never flinched. He never broke character – well, except for the duel. But maybe that was why Akira felt so sick. They felt so close.

He was forgetting to breathe.

Akira opened his mouth to exhale like he was trying to force out an evil spirit. Even just thinking about him made something inside him twist in agony.

They weren’t together.

They weren’t bonded.

So why did it hurt?

God did it hurt.

He felt so jittery and anxious all the time. Even leading up to the theft of Sae’s treasure, he didn’t feel this torn.

Was it because he was still seeing him nearly every day? They were still speaking? Even if it was all a charade, was it just having him around that was comforting? Hearing his voice? Breathing in his scent?

It shouldn’t have been comforting.

He thought to ask Haru about it, maybe. As the other omega in the group, and practically bonded to Makoto in every way but bitten, maybe she could provide some insight about why separating from someone he wasn’t bonded to made him feel sick all the time. He was sure she had suspected already. Whenever he gave the excuse of his injuries bothering him, he would catch her giving sad, distant stares.

But it wouldn’t be right to ask her. She hated Akechi. Rightly so. She had every reason to. It must have killed her to know Akira was so close to him. She could probably smell how desperate he was for him. Probably everyone could.

It shouldn’t make him this hurt to not see and smell Akechi around him every day. They had nothing, other than a rivalry.

He should have known from the start it was all going to end badly. Why would an alpha feel intimidated by an omega? Just inherently, Akechi should be superior to Akira in every way…

The train finally pulled up; Akira boarded and took a seat as if standing any longer would be the death of him. He turned his head to look out the window as the train pulled away and caught his first glimpse of himself since he’d gotten done putting on his makeup in the mirror.

He had to admit, after nearly a year of hanging around Ann, he’d picked up a few things. The bruises on his face had faded enough that he was able to conceal them easily. He did the most work on his eyes; Ann always told him he had beautiful eyelashes. So earlier that week, he cruised around the underground mall while everyone was at school and bought a few things. Some eyeliner, a little bit of lip gloss, and he’d taken the time to comb back his hair so his bangs only fell to one side.

He didn’t look as good as Ann, but he hoped he looked good enough to someone.

Anyone.

Just one night, and maybe he’ll feel okay.

Maybe.

He scoffed and turned back to look down at his feet. Ann would strangle him if she knew what he was doing, what he was thinking.

She absolutely didn’t agree with the notion that alphas were better than anyone. It was one of the many traits she hated Kamoshida for. He remembered how long after they’d stolen his heart and moved on to their next target, she had continued to vent about how disgusting he was. There was something vile about a man so far up his own ass, he felt he had the right to stalk and prey upon other alphas. But it was all that venting Ann had done that was leading him to his current destination.

_ “—And he wanted me to go there. With him! Ugh.” Ann let her head tilt backward over her chair as she played with the end of one of her pigtails. “As if! Sometimes I remember more stunts he pulled and wonder if it was right to not torch him.” _

_ “Like, that’s really shady! You never told me that!” Ryuji had his feet up on the desk in front of him and one arm slung over the back of Akira’s chair. “Can you even get in there? They don’t let high school kids in, right?” _

_ “They ID everyone, but I’ve heard high schoolers get in. It’s not that hard with a fake card.” _

_ “Um…” Akira interrupted their griping. “What is it?” _

_ “What?” Ann looked up. _

_ “‘The Knot’? What is it?” _

_ “Oh right.” Ryuji lifted his hand off Akira’s chair and affectionately rubbed the top of his head. “You probably ain’t got mixing clubs out in the country.” _

_ “Not really, no… So, it’s a club? Like a dance club?” _

_ “I mean, yes and no.” Ann shrugged. “I heard most nights of the week it’s pretty tame. But they are known for their big ‘mixer’ night. I know that’s what he wanted to take me to. I’ve heard some of the older models talk about it. The Knot is just one of these clubs… But they set things up to let everyone go wild. Alphas, omegas, even betas are allowed in. Specifically, this club is known for going all out and getting everyone’s senses up with drinks and body paint. It’s their gimmick.” _

_ “I saw a spot on the news last year that they were getting so popular, they started having omegas sign waivers before being allowed in!” _

_ “Sign? For what?” Akira looked between them, confused. _

_ “The club gives every omega one morning-after pill on mixer night. But you have to sign a paper saying the club is not responsible if you lose it or it fails.” _

_ “That seems… dangerous…” Akira muttered. _

_ “They had a lot of lawsuits.” Ann shook her head. “But it’s the most popular club in Shinjuku. So, they weren’t going to shut down.” _

_ “Yeah, if they did, then you’d just have a bunch of rut-crazy alphas roaming around on the weekends being assholes—” _

_ “Hey!” Ann kicked Ryuji’s chair under the table, causing him to slide back. “We are not all ‘rut-crazed’. People can control themselves! They just choose not to!” _

_ “I didn’t say you do that! You’d never be caught dead out on the prowl!” _

_ Akira watched the two bicker back and forth. Their arguments never ended where they started, so he let them go off.   
  
_

At the time, he was amused. Though somewhat scandalized by the idea of a club that encouraged people’s most debased instincts. Ryuji was right, something like that would never fly back home. Hell, he still knew some families that argued ‘suppressants’ were unnatural and insisted their omega children stay home during heats. At least his parents weren’t that uptight.

But they would probably lose their minds over what he was doing right now.

Akira stepped off the train and made his way up the station stairs into the familiar neon night lights of Shinjuku. Seeing the bright, fluorescent neon wash over him helped him feel a bit calmer. He was drawing closer to his destination.

He made his way down the sidewalk, head held slightly higher than when he snuck out the darkened alleys of Yongen-Jaya. Morgana had always told him he liked walking around Shinjuku at night the most because of the lights. He could see why.

If it weren’t for the fact Morgana would have absolutely protested this plan, he would have let his friend come, instead of tricking him into staying the night with Futaba.

It had been tricky to get it all together. He started hatching the plan late last week after listening to a drunk patron at Crossroads wax poetic about their alpha. Akira was still jittery at the time; maybe they smelt the anxiety wracking his body, and thought hearing stories about having someone take care of them, protect them, and keep them warm would soothe him.

It kind of did.

But it also just made his want greater.

Akira hated to admit it, but the only warm, comforting body he longed for belonged to his assassin. That just wasn’t going to do.

He stopped walking as the light from a bright rainbow sign flashed across his face. Written in English, and every letter a different color; they slowly lit up one by one before flashing over a doorway that lead into an underground club and lounge.

‘The Knot’.

What a tacky name, but it left no illusions of what it offered.

Akira took a deep breath.

Maybe he couldn’t have Akechi. But he could find one person to offer him comfort, just for a night.

He turned his attention to the line of individuals waiting to get in. Right. Of course. Ann and Ryuji did say the place was popular and he was technically arriving ‘late’ for a night of clubbing. Akira eyed the line for a moment before taking a few more breaths to calm the turmoil brewing in his stomach and prevent his smell from giving away his anxiety.

As he approached the end of the line, Akria pulled off his glasses and started to loosen up his jacket a little bit. Now that he was here, there was no need to hide or worry about someone randomly accosting him on the subway. Still, he didn’t take it off all the way; he wasn’t completely comfortable yet.

Akira approached the last person, who was standing at the corner of the building, right by an alley. As he moved to step into place, he heard a growl across the way.

“Hey!” Across from him, at the corner of the next building, was an agitated-looking alpha with red hair. “You can’t cut! Get to the back, tramp!”

Akira leaned back, too startled to respond, and realized that there were in fact more people in the line. And now most of them were glaring at him.

“S-sorry. Didn’t real—”

“Yeah, whatever! Don’t cut!”

“Come on.” Beside him, the alpha’s friend put a hand on his shoulder. He had a much calmer look on his face, dark brown hair, and smiled as he turned from his clubbing partner to Akira with a fixed stare. He gave him a few quick glances over before speaking. “You’re by yourself?”

“Y-yeah. I mean, yes.” Akira nodded. Even though he wasn’t being aggressive, Akira felt uneasy. “Sorry for cutting you, I’ll just—”

“Well, hey,” the calmer alpha wrapped an arm around his friend motioned to the both of them, “we’re here by ourselves too. Come in with us.”

“What?” The redhead growled and shoved his friend off.

“Relax, we’re here to pick up a third. And he looks like he needs someone for the night. Am I right?”

Akira contemplated the two before him. He did want someone for the night.

“I think I’ll just get in on my own.” Akira turned to walk past them, and the more talkative one stepped out of line to stand in front of him. He was at least two heads taller than Akira, and leaned down as he reached forward to grab his hand.

“Relax, sweetheart, we’re not going to breed you.” He leaned down to whisper into Akira’s ear, and Akira got a good whiff of his scent: peppermint and pine, and some sort of cleaning solution mixed in. Like he’d been aggressively scrubbing off some other smell. “Unless that’s what you want?”

Akira jerked back to look him in the eyes. They were almost red. Not quite the same.

“No.” Akira shook his head. “Just looking to… relax.”

“Great!” His smile grew; it was almost charismatic, but a bit too toothy. “Then come in with us.” The alpha pulled him into the line with them and wrapped an arm around Akira’s shoulders, preventing him from stepping out of line. “You smell a bit uneasy, sweetheart. And your muscles feel so tense.” Akira felt him squeeze the side of his arm and force their bodies closer. “We’ll be sure to limber you up.”

Akira nodded and squirmed a bit, trying to put a gap between their figures.

It wasn’t quite what he wanted, but it would do.

He stood in line with the two alphas for nearly half an hour as the line slowly trickled into the club. In that time, they continued to chat him up. He tried to be forthcoming with the conversation. To at least keep the one talking to him engaged. That’s what he wanted right? What he was looking for?

Having someone take care of him, even if just for one night, would surely curb the separation anxiety that had been twisting itself like a knife into his heart.

“We’re almost to the front.” The redhead, Taiyo, pulled out his ID. He smelled like burnt cloves and wood chips. “How long are you going to keep wearing that coat?” he snapped at Akira.

“Oh, sorry.” Akira started to slide his winter coat off his shoulders. “I just didn’t want any trouble on the train.”

His friend, Enyo, whistled suddenly as Akira took off his coat. “Hey, hey, have I got an eye or what?” Again, he was smiling at Akira as he quickly pulled away the coat Akira was trying to fold over his arm. When Akira reached for it, he grabbed his wrist and lifted up his arm. He’d yanked Akira up so quickly that his body lurched forward. Enyo’s grip caused him to seize up and left him dangling by the balls of his feet.

Akira had been piecing together what to wear to the club all week. A red, long-sleeved midriff shirt, black-trimmed, with a low and wide neckline so it hung off his shoulders; the sleeves were too long, with the cuffs covering the palms of his hands. Under that, he wore a black mesh top that ‘covered’ his stomach. He had on black, hip-riding shorts that stopped just below his ass and hung low enough on his body to show off the top of a dark red thong. He set out with the intent to find a partner for the night, so it shouldn’t bother him to show it off, or that they found it to their liking.

“Oh, he’s not a complete disappointment under the coat?” Taiyo reached over and put a hand on Akira’s waist. “It even looks like he works out a little bit.”

Akira finally came back to his senses enough to pull his wrist free and side-stepped away. Taiyo and Enyo laughed at him. Enyo moved to put both hands on his shoulders and started rubbing them. The action wasn’t soothing like messages from Kawakami. It almost hurt.

“Still, really tense, why are you so stiff, sweetheart?”

“Ah,” Akira reached up to put his hands over Enyo’s and try to stop him from grinding his thumbs into his back, “just— School… And a really rough… break up.”

“Oh! So, you’re on the rebound?” Akira heard a slight change in Enyo’s inflection. He looked up and over his shoulder to catch his expression, but he was now looking ahead toward his friend. The redhead shrugged and rolled his eyes, but he was smirking.

He then turned around and stepped up to hand the bouncer his ID. Enyo gave Akira a slight push from behind to step up as well.

Akira pulled the identification he’d gotten out from his back pocket. He had asked Iwai about getting a fake one made. It took a lot of question-dodging and playing it off that he needed one for Phantom Thief business before he agreed to point him in the direction of someone that could help.

Iwai most certainly would have refused if he knew it was for clubbing.

The bouncer took it, flipped it over in his hands, and looked at Akira for a bit longer than he liked.

“What’s wrong?” Enyo leaned over Akira’s shoulder to present his. “Never seen one with a babyface before?”

The bouncer handed it back to Akira and then thrust a clipboard at him. “Sign.”

“Sign?” Akira paused, and his heart started racing. He felt his eyes fluttering as a phantom pain built up in his chest.

“Come on, sweetheart.” Enyo grabbed the pen and forced it into Akira’s limp hand. “Unless you really are looking to get bred tonight, sign your name.”

He remembered. The waiver. “Right.” He weakly clutched the pen and signed his name. He didn’t breathe the entire time he did. Once the clipboard was taken away from him, the bouncer handed Akira a tiny dime-sized bag with a single pill in it.

“Don’t lose it.”

Akira nodded, slowly regaining his ability to breathe. Before he was completely oriented, the two alphas each grabbed one of his arms and led him down the stairs into the club.

The moment they were through the doors all of Akira’s anxiety was overwhelmed by the smell. The pure, unfiltered smell of sweat, pheromones, and musk. He stopped to shake his head and cough as one of the two he’d entered with handed off his coat to the front desk. His eyes took a few moments to adjust to the light of the club; it was nearly dark save for a few lit spots by the bar and a different station down the hall from the coat check. Everything else was blacklight and strobe lights.

Akira put a hand to his mouth as he scanned the club; the entrance was on a raised floor with a balcony, and below them, the bar and pit area for the dance floor. Out past the dance floor, there were a few raised platforms for seating, and doors leading to private rooms. On the bodies of the club patrons, Akira could see patterns lighting up in the strobe lights; he could see people not so much dancing but grinding and climbing over each other.

The music was mixed with the sounds of shouting, growling, and moaning.

“You look stunned, sweetheart.” Akira turned to face Enyo as he pulled his hand away from his face. “Breathe deep. It will help you unwind.”

“Drinks will help us better unwind!” Taiyo was much less angry now that they were inside.

“Right, this is your first time here, sweetheart?”

“Yes.” Akira nodded, still glancing around the club. There were so many different things hitting his senses at once. It was hard to parse it all and filter the information into his brain. At least it was all so overwhelming that it was pushing away that anxiety.

Enyo put a hand on the small of his back and walked Akira toward the balcony. He motioned toward the ceiling and large fans overhead. “Everyone’s scent stays in the building. So, you’re going to start to feel the effects soon enough. But if that’s not enough, there are drinks to help loosen you up. Really get your hormones racing.”

Akira eyed the fans. “What about the staff? How are they able to work like this?”

“Anyone who’s not a beta on staff is on scent blockers and hormone suppressants for the night.” Enyo jerked his thumb back toward the entrance. “And most bouncers are big alphas like the guy at the front. They’ll throw out any issue with a clear head. So, don’t worry about anything. Do you want a drink?”

Akira nodded deftly, noting mentally how the topic changed quickly.

A drink would be good.

“Taiyo, get him a drink. Something to make him feel loosened up.” He winked at the redhead.

Akira watched Taiyo as he moved off to head downstairs and disappeared into the crowd.

“Let’s get you some paint.”

“Paint?” 

Enyo grabbed Akira by the arm and pulled him through the crowd toward the other well-lit area. There were a few empty stools and club workers standing around wearing rubber gloves and face masks, and a wall with several designs and a color chart on it. 

“Here, take a seat and tell them what you want. I’ll pay.” Enyo pushed Akira toward a chair without any explanation before going to sit down himself.

“Uh…” Akira turned his head toward the nearest worker, a woman with a face mask pulled up to her forehead. “I guess I’m supposed to get body paint?”

“Sure. What effect do you want?”

“Effect?”

The woman looked him up and down before motioning to the wall. “The body paint has artificial-pheromone mood stabilizers in it. Helps set your mood and maintain it. Different colors, different feelings. Basically, how do you want to feel tonight?”

Akira looked up at the board and realized each color on the chart had a ‘mood’ written on it. His eyes searched for anything close to calm.

“Blue is for relaxed?” He looked toward the worker.

“Is that all?”

Akira scanned the wall again, but to be honest, he was starting to feel overwhelmed by all this additional fanfare.

“You look tense, kid.” The woman interrupted his search. “Why are you here?”

Akira looked at her and bit his bottom lip. Everyone was picking up on the fact that he was a bundle of nerves. “I just want to relax for the night? I’ve been… anxious… since a really bad breakup. And I’m tired of taking charge of everything. I just want to not feel... feel like I still need him around. And I want someone to just take care of me for the night.”

The woman nodded and pulled down her mask. “White, then. With blue fade… For relaxation and obedience. Anywhere in particular?”

Akira looked down at himself. He’d need it to be someplace easy to wash off… and easy to hide if he couldn’t get it all off.

“Stomach,” was all he said as he pointed toward his middle.

The worker laughed and pulled up a paper stencil she held over Akira’s abdomen.

“One womb-tat coming up.”

“One what?”

But she didn’t answer. Akira watched her go to work. The paint felt cold. Akira wasn’t sure if that was because his body felt hot since he entered the club, or if the paint was supposed to feel cool against his skin. He found himself starting to flinch and the worker asked him to stop.

Akira tilted his head back and tried to focus on the lights, on taking a few more deep breaths, and closed his eyes.

The club had so many smells mixing together. Sweaty bodies, musky heats, warm and pungent odors that drove up his body temperature with every second. There were so many it was impossible to pick out any distinctive smell. But every now and again his brain would acknowledge someone smelt like citrus, or leather, or gun smoke.

He opened his eyes with a gasp and took another deep breath, opening his mouth like he was a fish gasping in the open air.

The smell was gone.

“All done.” The woman pulled back and motioned for him to get up.

Akira looked down at his stomach, at the design like a heart just under his belly button with a bunch of twisting lines that curved down to his hips. As promised, it was white on top and faded down into a dark blue.

It still felt cold on his skin. Probably the only place on his body that wasn’t starting to sweat from just being in the building. But oddly, he felt the cold seeping deeper than just his skin, making his nerves tingle and ease up, releasing all the tension he’d been carrying in his stomach for weeks.

He was snapped out of looking at it by a whistle.

Enyo approached him, with orange and green scrawling up his arms as he handed the worker some cash.

“Come on, Taiyo’s got our drinks. We’ll get you sloppy, and then onto the dance floor. Got it?”

_ ‘Sloppy?’ _ Akira wanted to ask out loud what he meant, but instead just found himself nodding as he slid off the chair.

Enyo grabbed Akira by the waist and pulled him away from the paint station.

Once out from under the bright lights, Akira could see the mark on his stomach light up under the black lights. Like everyone else, now a part of his skin lit up along with the strobing lights of the club. He was dragged down the steps between the crowd, packs of alphas bickering, mates making out on any available surface, even sometimes the laps of other people. A few betas here and there scooping up anyone that hadn’t landed a partner for the night.

He wanted to stop and get a better look at it, but Enyo insisted they move, and he complied.

Taiyo was waiting for them at the bar; he handed Akira an orange and red drink in a tall, curved glass with a smile.

“Drink up!”

Akira put it to his lips immediately, only thinking to ask what it was after his first sip. “What’s in it?”

“It's going to make you less nervous.” Taiyo nodded more to Enyo than Akira.

“You may feel like you’re going into heat, but don’t worry, it just simulates it.”

Akira felt his heart skip a beat. “I don’t want to—”

“Just drink it, sweetheart.” Enyo leaned forward and pushed two fingers right above the paint job, into Akira’s stomach. “You said you wanted to rebound. This will help.”

“Yeah,” Taiyo started gulping down a drink of his own, “dancing and the rest of the night are only going to be painful if you’re tense.”

Their words bounced around in Akira’s head for a moment. He felt a pang of distress over them, but it was quickly washed away by a gentle, easy fog settling over his thoughts. He did want to ‘rebound’ as Enyo had called it. Even if they weren’t together…

Akira put the glass to his lips and continued drinking.

He could hear Enyo encouraging him as he slipped a hand around his waist and pulled him to lean toward the bar for another drink.

By the time Akira had finished his first one, that gentle fog made his head feel light. The tension in his body had definitely melted away.

“You want another one,” Taiyo said, and put a new glass down in front of him.

He did want another one?

_ ‘I’ve never drunk this much before… or at all…’ _

Akira picked up the glass and the two alphas each raised their drinks with him in a small gesture. The two knocked back their drinks, much smaller than his, in a few gulps.

Akira tried to do the same, but part of his drink just drained onto his neck. Akira set his glass down in a hurry and started to look for a napkin.

Taiyo started to laugh. But Enyo leaned over and pushed Akira’s head to the side. “Don’t move.”

Akira held perfectly still as the alpha ran his tongue over Akira’s chin, down his neck, and back up to his lips.

Akira felt himself shudder and take a deep breath. The smell of pine he’d picked up on earlier was much stronger now. He wasn’t sure if his sense of smell was heightened from the club, or the drinks, or the paint.

Enyo didn’t pull back from his face, holding Akira’s gaze. He wasn’t smiling anymore, but in the black light of the club, his eyes looked redder than before.

“You want to dance.”

That was a command, not a question.

“Yes.” Akira nodded and offered up his hand to be led onto the dance floor.

Taiyo walked behind them, pushing his shoulders as they forced their way through the crowd of bodies.

In the middle of the floor, the smell of the club was much stronger. But they were standing beneath the fans and vents at this point. Every smell released into the club was being sucked up and pumped back down onto their heads.

It made Akira’s head spin. He was sure he could smell someone’s heat nearby, and there was another omega they passed whose stockings were soaking with slick. Everyone in the club was drowning in their most basic and primal desires.

Enyo suddenly stopped walking and turned to face him. He grabbed Akira by the hips and pulled him towards him as he started dancing. Or at least, the illusion of dancing. Akira put his hands out to grab his arms and brace himself as their bodies were forced together in a fluid grinding motion.

He let out a soft gasp and tried to reposition himself when Taiyo came up behind him to hold his shoulders and keep him sandwiched between them.

“You want to dance, remember?” He leaned down to Akira’s neck and inhaled before dragging his hands down the front of his chest.

“Y-yes,” Akira gasped as he felt Taiyo’s hands find his nipple through his shirt. “I want to dance.”

“That’s right, sweetheart.” Enyo moved one hand from his hips and grabbed the back of Akira’s thigh to pull it up and force him to wrap his leg around him. “This is your rebound night; you’re here to feel good.”

Akira had a bit of trouble keeping himself balanced on one leg, but he still nodded. He did want to feel good. That’s why he came, right? He’d heard it felt good to have an alpha take care of you. That it would put him at ease.

He felt Taiyo’s hands sneak under the hem of his shirt and pull it up to expose his chest. Akira wasn’t sure how he felt about that, but the calming fog hanging over his head told him he liked it. His lips were on Akira’s neck as he placed kisses along his heated skin, pulling small portions of it between his lips.

Akira let out a whimper and felt his head roll to the side.

In front of him, Enyo’s other hand – at least he thought it was Enyo’s – dipped between his legs and pressed against his groin.

One of them reminded him that he wanted someone to touch him.

And he did.

“I do.”

He wasn’t sure if he was asking or confirming.

But he felt his zipper come undone and fingers curling between his underwear and his skin.

In response Akira’s hips jerked forward, toppling him off his unbalanced leg and into the chest of the alpha holding him up. His hips were grinding forward into the hand working its way around the base of his cock. There was a hand in his hair at the base of his neck and another twisting around one of his nipples.

His nostrils filled with the smell of woodsy peppermint to the point that he felt he could gag on it. His hand slid across the arms and chest wrapped around him, searching for something to grab onto so he could stand himself upright and get away from the smell. However, as soon as he pushed himself up, lips crashed into his, and a tongue was forcing its way into his mouth.

“Don’t run, you want to party with us, right?”

Did he? He did. He snuck out to do this.

Akira broke the kiss and his tongue ran over his top lip. The smell had rubbed off on him. It was repugnant, but he still nodded.

“Yes.”

Enyo grabbed him by his jaw and smiled at him; it wasn’t charismatic or friendly.

“Then, kiss me again.”

Akira felt him squeeze his jaw to part his lips as he leaned in.

Again he was hit with the overwhelming scent of pine and mint, and his nostrils curled in distaste. But as their lips met, he smelt something else. It quickly overwrote Enyo’s scent and struck his mind with an immediate sense of familiarity. A trace of leather, fresh-cut wood, and gunpowder.

Gunpowder.

Akira tried to jerk his head back as his body started to tense up again at the odor. But Enyo held him in place. Or at least tried to.

No sooner had their lips met than the alpha’s head suddenly jerked back and he let out a scream. His friend stopped lavishing attention on Akira’s neck and they both watched as Enyo turned around, snarling, ready to insult whoever had just grabbed his hair from behind.

However, he barely got a word out before he was cut off by a fist to his lower jaw, and his head viciously whipped to the side. He was stunned for a moment before the next hit came, and then a kick to his stomach before he was shoved down to the floor.

“What the hell!” Taiyo let go of Akira, ready to push him aside and fight his friend’s attacker.

Akira did not move.

The fog that had wrapped itself around his head and the cooling sensation that had been working its way through his nervous system all came to a halt the moment Enyo dropped to the ground.

Across from him, with a very angry glare piercing through red paint sprayed over his face, was the source of his weeks of anxiety.

“…Akechi!”

  
  


Going to The Knot was not supposed to be a habit.

But since the twentieth, Goro realized it was becoming a ritual.

There was just something soothing about drowning out Shido’s demands, his nightmares, and his guilt by hanging around the club floor until he found someone, anyone, with short black hair that he could bury himself into for the night.

He didn’t have to look at their face. They didn’t even have to talk.

He just meant to do it once, the night after he’d killed Akira. However, he kept coming back.

He showed the security at the front door his ID and stepped inside the club. He always wore a hat, face mask, and jacket on the way there. As much as he didn’t care anymore, he still couldn’t risk someone seeing him and posting it to the tabloids that he frequented this kind of establishment.

This was all Akira’s fault.

He just had to get himself put on Shido’s radar.

Goro turned over his coat and hat at the front desk; underneath he had on a black, sleeveless turtleneck that showed off his arms and clung to his abs. He wore a pair of black gloves, but not his usual ones, a pair of motorcycle gloves he picked up for the bike he would probably never own. Black leather plants and pure white shoes rounded out his appearance. He’d actually started coming to the club so often, he had to buy a rotation of outfits to attend.

Once he handed over his belongings, he made his way over to the paint station. The usual woman that did his application flagged him down to take a seat.

“I’ve already got a black bottle in the airbrush for you—”

“No,” Goro cut her off as he took his seat. “Not black tonight.”

“Oh?” The woman had her face mask on her forehead. “You willing to risk ‘getting attached’ this time?” she joked.

Goro rolled his eyes.

He liked black. It disconnected him further from his actions. He wished he could have had some on the night of the Phantom Thieves’ last mission. Though, he still felt detached from himself since then. They were his actions, but it wasn’t what he felt. His life since then was more like watching a movie; a very slow-paced tragic one coming to its end. The color was more for whoever he picked up, so they knew not to expect a phone number, or a night over, or to ever see him again.

“I don’t want anyone to think this is long-term, but I’ve got some… pent-up aggression that could use some release.”

“So you want to get violent?”

“I figure whoever I pair up with should know going in.” Goro shrugged. He was going to give his partner a rough time, heightened aggression or not.

He watched the woman remove the black paint bottle from her airbrush and pick up a red one. “How do you want it?”

Goro motioned to his forehead. “Just spray.” The woman looked confused. He pulled back his bangs and closed his eyes. “Just spray until it’s running down my cheeks.”

“Huh, if you say so.”

Goro kept his eyes closed as he felt the airbrush spraying onto his forehead. What would it look like? He hoped like blood coming down his face. Like the first time he summoned Loki. Or the night he shot Akira. He just needed to vent.

Shido was breathing down his neck more than usual lately, and it was winding him up.

It was supposed to get easier after Akira died. But it felt like things were falling apart faster now. Like he was falling apart.

He knew it didn’t make sense, the terrible feeling of absence that he carried. Like he’d punctured a hole through his chest that the wind endlessly blew through. They weren’t together. Akira was his rival, an obstacle, a challenge he had to conquer. And he did.

But he missed it. From the moment he was driven away from the station. When it started to sink in that it was over. That he was never going to see or smell Akira again.

He still found his body tricking him into thinking he could detect the smell of flowers around the city. A soft country rain and pollen lingering in places on the city streets.

Even right now, his mind told him it was hovering around the chair.

“All done.” The woman stopped.

Goro let his hair go and felt a few strands stick to his forehead. As he opened his eyes, he could feel a few streaks of paint running down his cheeks.

“Thanks.” He motioned to pay her and caught the grim expression on her face. “What?”

“You look like a bloody mess. I don’t think anyone’s going to pair up with you like that…”

Goro laughed as he got out of his seat. That might be to their benefit.

He moved toward the balcony to scope out the club for the night. He usually had no issues finding a willing partner; beta or omega, it didn’t matter. He just had the requirement of a certain height and certain hair color and length. How they looked didn’t matter; he didn’t want to look at them while he did it. When he was here two nights ago, he paid for a private room and kept his partner face down on the couch.

So if his gruesome look bothered them, they didn’t have to look at him either.

It didn’t take him long to pick out a few possible candidates. He started scanning the dance floor to see if anyone was on their own, and from there, looked over the bar. He wasn’t going to drink himself, but he knew most solo arrivals hit up the bar for some liquid courage. Yet, it appeared everyone sitting there was already mingling with someone to keep them entertained for the night. He was going to stick to the floor when he spotted one individual as they tilted their head back in a poor attempt to down their drink.

His eyes lingered on the sight for a moment. One black-haired youth with two others. It had to be the light playing tricks on him, but for a moment when he tilted his head back the one in the middle was a dead ringer for Akira.

His heart started to race.

He kept watching them, watching the tallest one lick over his neck and face, and Goro felt his jaw clench.

It couldn’t be Akira… But he felt a desire to go down there and take him from them.

But it’s not Akira.

That trio was clearly here together. He doesn’t break up others; he just grabs what he can…

Still, he pushed away from the balcony and started walking for the stairs, still watching the trio as they now started away from the bar and toward the dance floor, the two alphas leading their third and vanishing into the bodies grinding away under the strobe lights.

Goro had to take his eyes off of them as he stepped off the stairs and made his way to the bar.

He reached it just in time to swoop up the abandoned glass before the bartender could claim it.

“Hey!” the man behind the counter shouted at him. “No free drinks!”

Goro scoffed at him and dumped the rest of the drink out onto the floor as the bartender glared at him. He wasn’t there for the drink anyway.

He raised the glass to his nose and inhaled. What he smelled sent a chill down his spine that left him shuddering.

It was the same smell.

That country, rural scent. The smell of fresh rain on flowers, as their pollen hung in the damp air. Overlaid with coffee beans and attic dust.

Goro slammed the glass down on the counter as he turned away from the bar. His eyes darted around the room, searching for the trio. He should have never detoured to check. He should have just kept following them.

The same face.

The same smell.

But he shot him. He saw it.

There’s no way that Akira was alive.

But what were the chances this person had the same smell and appearance?

Goro started to push his way through the crowd, a million questions on his mind. If that was Akira, why was he here?  _ How _ was he here? And who were those idiot frat boy alphas he was with? Had he known them? For how long? For how long had Akira been coming here?

Goro shoved anyone that was in his path out of the way. With every unanswered question that popped into his head, his confusion lessened and his anger grew. The red he had smeared across his face wasn’t helping him keep his calm either.

He practically threw some poor beta out of his way as they drunkenly stumbled across his path.

He couldn’t see Akira and the two alphas in the crowd, but he could still smell Akira, his scent wafting around in the hormonally-charged crowd. Goro was doing his best to follow it, but he had to consider it might be a wasted effort at this point—

Until he heard him.

Goro’s head snapped to his left as he heard Akira’s voice in the crowd. Saying nothing, just moaning.

The sound made his hands clench so tightly that if not for his gloves he may have cut into his own skin. Maybe it was just the paint making his mind cling to his frustrations, but Akira shouldn’t be moaning for anyone that wasn't him.

His eyes fell on the taller of the two that were with Akira at the bar. He had his back to him, and he was hoisting one of Akira’s legs up off the dance floor and onto his hip.

Goro meant to utter ‘No’ in response to the action, but all that came from his lips was a snarl. Before he registered the thought, he was already moving toward them, hand raised and stretched out to grab the alpha by the hair and yank him backward away from Akira.

He screamed as Goro grabbed his hair, but only stayed startled for a moment. He turned to face Goro, ready to shout at him, but Goro wouldn’t hear it. He didn’t have time to. He had to get this idiot off what was ‘his’.

Even if he had never laid claim to it.

His fist was already raised and swinging by the time the other alpha turned around.

His knuckles connected with his jaw and Goro wasn’t sure if it was the sounds of the club or the sound of the other alpha’s face he heard cracking. He watched him stutter for a moment, eyes wide as he tried to collect his thoughts before Goro hit him across the face from the opposite direction and followed up by slamming the heel of his shoe into his gut.

As he doubled over in pain, Goro put his hand out to push him down to the ground and give him a clear view of his objective:

Akira.

For all of five seconds, Goro felt his anger dissipate. As if dropping the other alpha to the ground lifted some glass dome from around Akira, his scent hit him all at once. It sent a chill up his spine and a rush of nostalgia for the first time he inhaled it back at the TV station. His eyes looked Akira over, and the nostalgia was taken over by anger again.

His already-revealing top was pushed up, exposing his teased nipples. His shorts were open and a red bulge of fabric was clearly in the process of being freed. And on his neck, someone had been sucking on – thankfully not biting – his skin.

Goro’s expression twisted as his lip curled up and he snarled.

Akira immediately backed up, eyes wide and face pale. He backed up right into the chest of the other alpha that had been toying with him.

“What the fuck!” The redhead shoved Akira out of the way, knocking him to the floor as he charged at Goro.

He took one swing that Goro ducked under. And then another, that Goro sidestepped.

When he took his third, Goro grabbed him by his arm with one hand and used his free arm to lock the red head’s arm against his chest.

“Who told you that you could touch him?” Goro hissed at the redhead. He yanked him forward with his body’s momentum and hauled the alpha over his shoulder and slammed him back down on the floor.

He hit a few other dancers before hitting the ground, where he laid flat, groaning and rolling around in shock.

Goro snorted before turning from him and back to Akira—

Who was gone?

“...What?” Goro quickly scanned the floor in a panic, worried some other dumbass had snatched him up, when he spotted Akira, or rather, his ass, on the floor crawling away from him.

  
  


“Oh my god.” Akira hit the floor when Taiyo rushed Goro. His heart was racing. Goro was here! Why? Had he followed him? Had he been watching Leblanc?

His flight mode kicked into overdrive and he found himself scrambling on the floor to get away from the fight. Akira crawled through the dancers on his hands and knees, shaking his head and gasping for air.

“Oh my god. Oh my god, I’m going to die.” He couldn’t have been crawling for more than a minute when he felt someone grab his leg.

Akira looked over his shoulder into Goro’s wide-eyed and angry stare.

“Akira,” Goro licked his upper lip, “where are you going?”

Akira felt his voice squeak for just a moment before one of the people on the dance floor tripped over him. The patron started to yell at them for playing games in the middle of the floor. Akira tried to use the moment to kick Goro off, but doing so just made him angrier.

Goro grabbed his other leg and pulled him towards him.

“Stop! Stop! Akechi! Let go—!”

“Akira! Get over here!”

Goro pulled Akira closer until he had him by the thighs and then he dug his thumbs down into his skin, making Akira scream. A noise that was drowned out just enough by the club's bass so that only the surrounding crowd heard him. But loud enough that Goro heard, and Akira could see it light a predatory glint in his eyes.

“Akira! You—” Goro chuckled dryly. “You’re alive!”

Goro leaned over him; the red paint running down his face was even more unsettling now that Goro was getting closer to him. Akira tried to turn his head away.

“Please, please Akechi– Wait– You can’t– You can’t do this here—!”

“Do what here!?” Akira could feel Goro’s breath against his cheek. His smell was overwhelming. And for all the wrong reasons, it’d been so long since he’d had it this close to him: rich leather, a crisp scent like a fresh suit, brown sugar, and a lingering smoke odor. Originally, Akira could never place it, but now he knew it was the scent left after a gunshot.

It smelt particularly strong tonight.

“Huh? What can’t I do to you that you weren’t going to let those two idiots do?!”

“A-Akechi, please, can’t we just—” Akira’s words were cut off as a hand pressed against his throat.

“Get up.” Goro’s face had moved closer. His lips brushed against Akira’s skin as he gave the command. “Get up, now.”

Goro removed the hand from Akira’s neck and grabbed his wrist. Part of Akira’s mind told him to resist, but he didn’t have the fortitude to carry through with that plan. He was yanked up from the floor and stumbled forward into Goro’s chest. Being pulled up so fast, he felt dizzy, or maybe he felt dizzy from the drinks?

It didn’t matter; before he could recover his footing, Goro was dragging him with so much force Akira thought his arm was going to dislocate. He wanted to plead for freedom, to try and make a break for it, but his mind was starting to fog up again. And it just told him to follow.

  
  


Goro dragged Akira through the crowd, feeling him occasionally stumble as he led him off the dance floor and to a wall with a corner he felt was dark enough for some privacy.

He yanked Akira forward and pushed him against the wall, and couldn’t help but smirk as the other teenager scrambled to make heads or tails of the situation.

Akira put his hands up defensively and Goro grabbed one of his wrists to hoist it above his head. With his other hand, he grabbed Akira’s chin at the base of his neck and leaned in, pinning him to the wall.

“I have to admit, Akira, I’m surprised to see you here.”

Akira attempted to speak, but all that came out was a whimper. He shut his eyes and Goro felt him swallowing against his palm. His smell was mixed with fear and excitement and arousal. Goro pushed his thumb and fingers down harder on Akira’s throat, against his Adam's apple, and listened as he purred in response. It wasn’t calm and steady, but frantic.

“And to see you here like this— Look at you!” Goro glanced down to take in Akira’s outfit again. He lifted his knee to push Akira’s legs open and slid it upward until he was pressing it against his crotch. “In all the time I knew you, you dressed like a prudish, ignorant, backwater fool…” Goro looked up at Akira and pulled his head off the wall so he could slam it back.

‘But here you are! Just like a slut, and offering yourself up to every bastard in sight!”

“—No-no!” Akira managed to stifle his defensive purr long enough to stutter.

“What was that?” Goro lifted his leg, letting his knee grind into Akira’s balls. He watched in delight as Akira gasped and let out a moan. His legs shuffled as he tried to reposition himself and lift off Goro’s leg. But Goro kept going. He rubbed his knee back and forth and looked down as Akira’s erection continued to push out of his pants.

When he pulled his knee back, he could see moisture was building up on the leather, having soaked through Akira’s shorts. He could smell his sweet scent growing stronger every second.

“No, you say? But you’re already soaking wet...” Goro leaned forward and pressed his body against Akira’s. He made sure Akira could feel his erection pressing through the leather as he whispered into the omega’s ear, “And you're ruining my expensive pants.”

“A-Akechi—” Akira whined. His eyes were fluttering as he fought not to cry. His jaw was shaking. “Please… please don’t k—”

“Don’t?” Goro pulled back, angry. He let go of Akira’s jaw, and Akira gasped for air, relieved. However, Goro didn’t give him a chance to talk; his hand went from Akira’s jaw and straight into his thong. He pulled the piece of fabric downward and freed Akira’s cock, watching as Akira’s body jumped. The omega gasped in shock and weakly grabbed Goro’s wrist.

Goro pressed his hand against Akira’s exposed erection, but only for a moment, just to hear him mewl in fear and pleasure before sliding down further between his legs and letting his fingers brush up against his cunt.

‘Don’t what, Akira? What’s wrong?” Goro snarled. He could feel Akira’s slick building up on his fingertips. His gloves soaked to the point that his skin was wet within moments. Well, those were ruined, but that didn’t matter. “Do you only offer up this hole to random strangers?”

  
  


Akira’s head dropped down as his expression scrunched up. He let out a high-pitched cry and again tried to push his body up and away from Goro’s grip. But his head was spinning and he could barely get a good enough grip on Goro’s arm to keep from falling over. If the alpha wasn’t holding his other hand above his head he would have collapsed.

His entire body was shaking as he felt the tip of one of Goro’s gloved fingers push past the slick folds of his cunt. He tried to bring his knees together as if that would stop it, but Goro’s leg kept them open.

“Pl-please just let me– explain—”

“Or maybe you knew them?” At the end of the question, Goro pushed two fingers inside Akira and he let out a shuddering gasp.

“Hnnh! No!” Akira shook his head.

“No? Then  _ why _ !?”

He felt Goro’s fingers curl and uncurl and push deeper. He had to take a deep breath, but that just filled his nose with more of Goro’s scent. He was reeling. He wanted to run, but he wanted to stay. Goro had at least stopped pushing his knee against him, but as Goro’s fingers probed around inside Akira’s pussy, his palm kept grinding against his sac.

Every movement of his hand deprived him of his senses. His hips slid down the wall to meet Goro’s fingers, pushing them deeper inside him.

“I– I– just wanted—” Akira gasped, and bit onto his lip. He kept his eyes closed, trying not to meet Goro’s as another moan rose up from his throat. He rocked his body back and forth hungrily on the gloved hand and cried out.

“Answer me, Akira!”

“Hey, you two!”

A voice from behind Goro interrupted the interrogation. Akira watched Goro bare his teeth and snarl before turning around to face two of the bouncers from the club. And behind them were the two alphas Akira came with.

“What do you want?” Goro spat. He kept his hand on Akira’s wrist but lowered it from the wall. Without looking at him, Goro dragged Akira’s hand and arm in front of his cock before sidestepping to block him from view.

In his haze, Akira wasn’t sure if that was intentional. But he was grateful. Instinctively he found himself inching forward to stay behind Goro as he tried to get a grip on his mind.

“You’ve been causing a disturbance.” One of the bouncers pointed at Goro.

“You caused a fight and dragged that guy over here, didn’t you?” The second one stood with his arms crossed.

“Yeah!” Enyo scoffed. “That asshole’s trying to steal our partner for the night.”

“Come back over here, kid!” Taiyo motioned for Akira to come to him.

Akira felt himself shuffling out from behind Goro without a thought, but Goro tightened his grip. He turned around to look Akira in the eyes. Haze or not, Akira could see the anger in his expression, but it wasn’t for him. It was territorial, protective.

“Stay.”

Akira swallowed and nodded. Goro let go of his hand and turned back to the group trying to separate them.

“He’s here with me.” Goro raised his head. He wasn’t taller than the bouncers, but Akira could feel he was looking down on them.

“We have several people saying you started a fight—”

“Because these idiots picked up what was mine and thought they would have their way with him.”

Akira felt his heart skip a beat. What was his? His body was already running hot, but hearing Goro say that made his skin burn. Some reasonable part of his mind warned him that wasn’t true. It was clearly a ploy to get them to leave. Akira was in danger. He needed to speak out—

“He came in here with us!” Enyo pushed past the bouncers to shove Goro’s shoulder. “We had him first!”

Goro looked down at where he’d been shoved with disgust. He then looked back at Enyo and smirked. “What’s his name?”

“Excuse me?”

“You came here with him? What’s. His. Name?”

Enyo scoffed and looked over Goro to Akira.

“Come on, sweetheart, just walk away from him.” He reached to the side. “Come to me.”

Akira stared at his hand. He felt a slight tug in the fog telling him to obey, but he already had a command to follow. He moved closer to Goro.

“Are you kidding me?!”

“Hey,” the first bouncer spoke up. “What is the kid’s name? Do you know?”

Enyo looked at them, and then to his friend. “I... Well... Taiyo knows him!”

“Yeah, yeah… It’s…” The redhead motioned to Akira with a flick of his hand. “Ren.”

Goro burst into a laughing fit, raising his hand to his face to shield his eyes. As his head tilted back, he let out a laugh that Akira had never heard before. It sounded far too unhinged to belong to Goro.

When he stopped laughing, Goro looked over his shoulder at Akira and fished his phone out of his pocket. “Do you have yours on you?”

“Y-yeah.”

Goro dialed Akira on his phone and turned it to the bouncers to show the screen.

Akira fumbled for a moment, pulling his phone free of the too-tight pocket in the back of his shorts. He picked up the call.

“Says Akira on the screen.” The bouncer looked to Enyo. He was pale as he started to grow frustrated.

“Look, I was supposed to meet him here. These two idiots picked him up.” Goro closed out the call screen and opened his messenger. “Look at our chat history. It goes all the way back to June. He’s  _ mine _ .”

There was that word again. It made Akira shake. He pressed his thighs together, certain that just hearing it was making his slick run down his legs faster.

“Fair enough.” The bouncers turned to Taiyo and Enyo. “You two, you’re out for the night.”

“What!”

“No way!”

The two immediately began shouting and trying to push back against the bouncers as they grabbed them and started to force them away.

As soon as they were out of earshot, Goro spun around and looked Akira over. His eyes stopped on Akira’s phone and he snatched it from him.

“Akechi, wai—”

“Shut up! You’re not running away, or calling for help.” Akira watched him shove the phone into one pocket before putting away his phone on the other side.

All of the warm, prickly feelings that had been building up under his skin were washed away with cold dread.

He should have left with them.

Goro grabbed his wrist again and started pulling Akira toward the back of the club.

“Akechi, can we just—”

“Stop talking.”

Akira bit his lips together. He kept his free hand gripped to the front of his open shorts. He was still exposed as he was being dragged around. But he didn’t speak up again.

Goro pulled him through a backdoor into the hallway of private rooms and stopped at the first one that had a green light over it. He looked back at Akira, breathing heavily.

“Stay.”

Goro let go of Akira’s hand and pulled out his phone again, so he could pull out a card next. He held it up to the door’s card reader to unlock it and pushed it open.

“Get in.”

Akira felt like his feet were glued to the floor. One loud voice in his head was screaming to run back down the hall, the other to run into the room.

But in the room, he’d surely be killed.

“I said, get in!” Goro grabbed Akira by the waist and hauled him forward and past him.

Akira stumbled into the room and collided with a coffee table set up in front of a large, soft, purple sofa. The room was dimly lit, and there were a few complimentary items on the coffee table that scattered when Akira hit it. He fell to his knees and gripped the table. His body was shaking as he heard the door shut behind him.

“Turn around.”

Akira swallowed. His heart was pounding against his chest. He was alone, in this room, with Goro. His killer. He could barely smell him over the scent of his own fear now overpowering his senses.

Slowly he turned around, expecting to see a gun pointed at his face.

But Goro had no weapon; he was just standing, his fist clenched at his side, eyes closed, and breathing deeply.

“You… were going to sleep with them.”

Akira’s mind raced for an answer. Yes? No?

“Akechi—”

“Goro.” He opened his eyes and took a step toward Akira, causing him to scramble backward. He slid along the floor between the couch and the table.

“Goro, I was just— I— Please. Please don’t kill me!” Akira stopped at the opposite end of the coffee table. He watched the cold, angry expression in Goro’s eyes falter for a moment.

“Kill you?” Goro nodded and moved to sit on the couch.

Akira watched him inspect his fingers and the slick that had soaked his glove. Goro put his gloved fingers into his mouth and sucked, closing his eyes, seeming to savor the taste. With his other hand, he unzipped his pants, and pulled out his cock and began stroking himself.

“Come here, Akira.”

Akira did as he was told; he carefully climbed up onto the couch and over to Goro.

“You don’t want me to kill you?” Goro reached out to place his thumb on Akira’s chin and smirked. “Then get to work.”

Akira’s eyes went wide. He couldn’t be serious. But, what choice did he have?

  
  


Goro watched Akira close the gap between the two of them. He tentatively placed a hand on his thigh and leaned down, taking long, deep breaths. Goro bit down on the tip of his glove and used his teeth to pull it off before turning his head to fling it away. When he turned back, Akira’s lips were hovering just above the head of his shaft.

He thought he was going to have to command him again when Akira parted his lips and went down.

Goro inhaled and mashed his teeth together as he felt Akira close his lips around him and press his tongue against the head. Akira dragged it over the slit, lapping up the precum before taking more in. It took all of Goro’s resolve to not thrust his hips upward into the warmth of Akira’s mouth.

He let his head fall back onto the couch as Akira slowly bobbed his head up and down, swallowing more and more of Goro’s cock with each descent. It felt so good. How many omegas or betas had he brought to this back room for this exact thing and none of them felt this good. Goro moaned as he felt the head of his erection hit the back of Akira’s mouth.

  
  


Akira’s tongue traced the vein along the shaft as he swallowed, feeling pre race down his throat each time. When he heard Goro moan, he was tempted to look up at him, but too anxious to pull his mouth away. So he could only glance up, just barely catching Goro rolling his head forward and looking down at him in a lust-filled haze.

Goro put his still-gloved hand on the back of Akira’s head and silently ordered him to continue, while his other hand hooked the back of his shorts and thong and ripped them downwards. Akira let out a muffled cry as he pulled his mouth partially away, but Goro pushed him back down.

“Don’t stop.” His command was much more gentle. “You’re doing a good job.”

Akira felt a purr form in the back of his throat and slid his mouth back down Goro’s cock, tightening his lips and doing his best to touch every inch of it with his tongue. He bobbed his head up and down faster now as Goro kept whispering to him how good it felt.

Goro slipped his fingers back between the folds of Akira’s cunt and began opening him up. Not that he needed much work; slick was dripping down Akira’s thighs and over Goro’s hand as he pushed a third digit in. He pumped his fingers in and out of Akira in rhythm with Akira’s sucking. Akira raised his hips higher to meet Goro’s hand; the hand he’d had placed on Goro’s thigh slid up to press against his balls, still trapped in his leather pants. Akira had to force the zipper to open up more and allow his hand to free Goro’s sac so he could fondle it freely.

Goro jerked up his hips. “A-Akira!”

He clenched his hand in Akira’s hair and pulled back.

“Stop, get up—!”

Akira let his head be pulled back, if only because trying to resist would have been painful. The moment Goro’s cock was free of his mouth, Akira licked his lips and felt saliva running down his chin.

“Sit up.” Goro pulled his fingers out of Akira’s wet pussy and practically shoved him back onto the couch.

“G-Goro—?” Akira allowed himself to be pushed back, but he was unsure. Goro said he’d done a good job, hadn’t he? Why was he being made to stop?

Goro pushed himself off the couch and swung himself around to stand in front of Akira. His shorts were now hanging off one ankle and his slick was ruining the couch. Goro reached down and pushed up Akira’s shirt and ran his hand up his chest. He spread his fingers across his skin and licked his upper lip.

“You did a good job, Akira. You’re a good boy.” Goro stopped his hand over one of Akira’s pert nipples and dragged his thumbnail over it to elicit a gasp from the omega. “You deserve a reward. I’m going to reward you.”

Akira nodded dumbly as he watched Goro lean down and clamp his teeth over his free nipple. He let out a shriek of pain. This was a reward? Goro kept twisting his other nipple between his thumb and forefinger while he bit and sucked on the other one.

  
  


He did want to reward him, but Goro still remembered Akira let someone else play with him. It upset him. There was no sign they had been there, but Goro would make sure Akira never forgot he was. Even if he left his nipples black and blue tomorrow. And that would be his reward.

“Goro! Please—!” Akira grabbed at his shoulders, trying to push him back, and Goro just sunk his teeth into the flesh around his nipple harder. Akira let out another scream and his legs kicked out.

Goro pulled back to examine his handiwork. He traced one finger over each red nub and then trailed down to Akira’s stomach. Akira’s erection was standing, unattended and dribbling liquid against the tattoo on his stomach.

“You were really going to let those two fools command you around, weren’t you?” Goro dragged his finger through the fluid that had pooled on Akira’s stomach and then smeared it over the tattoo. “That’s bad, Akira. Do you think I should reward you for that?”

He looked into Akira’s face and watched as his cheeks turned red. But he said nothing.

“Hold your legs up.” Without hesitation, Akira lifted his feet to brace them on the edge of the couch. Goro pushed open his knees and lifted them, “Here, like this, hold them up.” Akira hooked one hand under each of his knees and took a deep breath.

He watched as Goro put one hand on the wall behind Akira’s head and leaned forward. With his other hand, he held his cock up against Akira’s cunt, rubbing the tip against the folds of his skin.

“I’m going to reward you,” Goro leaned forward and whispered into Akira’s ear, “And you are never going to let anyone else touch you again, is that clear?”

Before Akira could answer, Goro thrust forward.   
  
Akira dug his nails into the back of his thighs and dropped his head down as Goro continued to penetrate his body. He watched, eyes half-lidded and mouth open, as more and more of his dick split him open.

Goro groaned into Akira’s ear; he fervently licked his lips as the warmth of Akira’s flesh sucked him in.

“You’re taking it so well.” He slid his free hand between them and again teased Akira’s nipple. “You’re a slut, aren’t you, Akira?”

“Ahhn!” Akira shook his head. The nub still felt raw from Goro’s teeth and nails, but he didn’t dare try to stop him. Goro pushed himself in to the hilt, leaving Akira gasping for air. Every breath he took filled his lungs with the smell of their scents mixing, his slick and Goro’s musk.

“Don’t lie!” Goro pulled back and slammed forward, ramming the head of his cock against Akira’s walls. “Look at you!” Goro dragged his nails down over Akira’s chest leaving red welts along his skin. “You’re taking it– So! Easy!”

He growled the words out. Anger mixed itself with his lust. Akira was so wet, warm, and easy. How many times had this happened? How many other alphas had been in this hole?

“You disgust me!”

“Goro!” Akira felt the grip on his legs slipping, his entire body rocking with each thrust from the alpha. “Goro, please!”

Goro braced both hands on the wall behind the couch and ignored Akira’s cries.

“Never again!” He looked down, watching as tears started to stream down Akira’s cheeks. “No one else! Is that clear?!”

Akira felt his toes curling inside his boots; he could only nod. He let go of his legs and reached up to wrap his arms around Goro’s neck.

“Yes— Yes! Only you!”

Goro felt something primal roar inside him. He took his hands off the wall to grab either side of Akira’s tear-streaked face. “Good boy.” He brought their mouths together and pushed his tongue into Akira’s mouth.

  
  


Akira opened to him, letting Goro’s tongue dominate the kiss as his hips rocked back against his thrusts. It felt like Goro’s dick was rearranging his insides the harder he thrust. Akira was certain that if he broke the kiss and looked down he could make out the head of Goro’s cock through his stomach. But he dared not pull back; he didn’t want to.

Goro had told him he was good. And that no one else would be with him. The thought filled his head with air that pushed out every other thought. Breaking away now would leave him dizzy, helpless, scared.

He didn’t want them to part. When Goro pulled away, he whimpered and clawed at the back of Goro’s neck to bring him back down.

  
  


Goro felt his abdomen burning; the anger was pushed out by a swelling fire building at the base of his cock. He knew he was going to knot soon. Akira still clawed at his neck as Goro pulled his legs up again, hoisting them up so Akira’s ankles were parallel with his shoulders. He looked down, watching as Akira’s dick bobbed against his stomach, and a bulge in Akira’s lower stomach rose and fell with his thrusts, his slick sloppily squeezed out from between Akira’s walls and his cock.

He finally pushed forward one last time as his knot swelled to its full girth and Akira’s hole stretched around it; he came in long hot flashes, filling Akira up with his seed.

Akira let out one long, scratchy cry as his muscles constricted and tightened. He came onto his stomach and his head dropped back. His nails dug into anything they could, the couch, Goro’s arms, clawing feverishly for something to steady himself.

Goro leaned forward and pressed his nose against Akira’s exposed neck, taking in the smell of his body covered with his.

He felt his jaw twitch with anticipation as his mouth filled with saliva and his fangs begged to be used. Akira’s scent was so strong. The omega, consciously or not, had rolled his neck to the side to expose the spot his instincts demanded he claim.

Goro clenched his teeth and pressed them to Akira’s warm skin.

He wanted to. He knew he should.

But no matter what he said in the moment about who Akira belonged to...

Goro pulled his head back from Akira and gasped. He ran his hand over his face and looked down at Akira’s dazed expression. He stroked the top of his messy black hair and whispered,

“You’re a good boy, Akira.”

Akira’s eyes fluttered as he glanced at Goro. He felt his hand reach up and check for pain, for blood, for a bite.

“...Reward?” was all he could mutter.

Goro nodded and wrapped his arms around Akira’s waist to haul him up. He turned their bodies around so he could sit on the couch with Akira on his lap, nuzzling his nose into Akira’s neck and continuing to stroke his hair.

“You were a good boy. You did so good.”

Akira mewled in response and let his body sag against the alpha’s.

“No one else is ever going to use you, do you understand?”

“Hmn.” Akira nodded as he let his cheek rest against Goro’s shoulders.

Goro listened to his heartbeat and breathing steadily slow down.

“...How many others were there, Akira?”

“Others?” Akira’s voice was barely above a whisper.

“You came here with those two… So how many others?”

Goro felt Akira shake his head. “There’s just you.”

Goro stopped stroking Akira’s hair. He pulled back to sit up and look down at him, slightly furious but shocked. “What do you mean, just me? Akira!” Akira’s eyes were closed. “Akira… Were you going fuck two strangers for your fi—” Goro shook the omega in his lap. “Akira.”

No response.

Goro contemplated Akira’s sleepy response. He slowly leaned back into the couch and let Akira sleep on his shoulder. He couldn’t move for now. But he’d have to eventually.

Until then, he resumed cuddling Akira against his body. 

He wasn’t his mate. But he felt like he was his.   
  
  
  


Akira woke up feeling warm.

His mind was still drifting along the pleasant sea of Goro’s body and scent mingled with his. The sheets wrapped around him smelled of the detective. Akira hummed in his happy daze and pulled them tighter around his body before pulling the edges of the blanket up to his nose. He inhaled and pressed his lips to the fabric.

He couldn’t remember the last time he was this content. Somewhere in the background, he heard water running in another room as he pushed himself down further into the bed. He didn’t want to leave, but in the back of his mind, his thoughts were telling him to get up. Slowly trying to scramble together the reason he shouldn’t fall back to sleep.

But it was nice here. Wherever here was.

It smelt like Goro. He smelt like Goro.

Absently he reached up to run his fingers over a bite that wasn’t there. When he couldn’t find it, he let out a low whine.

Why hadn’t he bitten him? He said he’d been a good boy. He’d promised Akira wouldn't belong to anyone else.

The happy haze in Akira’s mind tried to sort out a reason, pushing away that warning siren in his thoughts. Maybe he just didn’t want to in the club? With all those strangers around?

It was all right. They had plenty of time to mark each other.

Akira reassured himself as he let his mind focus on the smell of his alpha wrapped around his naked body. He couldn’t remember the last time he slept this well or felt this relaxed. Being apart from Goro had made him so sick. Why did he stop—

Akira gasped and sat up in the bed.

“Oh my god.” He looked around the room, the siren in his mind growing louder and pushing away the post knotting haze to bring him back to reality. “He’s going to kill me…”

Akira swallowed hard as his eyes quickly darted around the room. He didn’t recognize it, but judging by the smell, he had to be at Goro’s apartment. He had to get out.

Akira pushed the sheets off in a hurry and swung his feet around to slide off the bed.

The room was dark, with the only light coming from a crack in the adjacent bathroom door providing any illumination. He didn’t know where his clothes were. He didn’t even know where this building was. A quick glance at the clock on the nightstand told him it was past one.

No trains.

Could he escape on foot? He crept around the side of the room he was on, looking in the nightstand for his clothes, then over to the closet.

If he could slip into the metaverse he could use the navi to tele—

“Shit.” Akira touched his hand to his eyes. “He took my phone.” He shook it off; he’d have to find it next. For now, he had to find something to wear. He wasn’t escaping anywhere naked—

The running water in the bathroom stopped.

Akira felt his heart stop with it.

He didn’t have anywhere to go, any place to hide.

“Back in the bed,” he muttered to himself. Goro had let him sleep instead of killing him outright; maybe if he continued to ‘sleep’ he could slip out later.

Akira quickly crawled back into the bed and pulled the sheets up over his head. He turned his back to the bathroom door and squeezed his eyes shut just as the lights came on, doing his best to take steady, even breaths as he heard the door open and heard Goro walking around the room.

His heart was pounding against his chest for the umpteenth time this night, and he was sure if he kept this up it was going to burst.

He heard Goro move around the room, open the closet, and the sound of clothes rustling. He then heard him walk closer, and even with his eyes shut Akira was certain Goro was casting a shadow over his side of the bed.

The bed dipped as Goro took a seat next to him, and Akira felt his fingers run through the top of his hair. He tried not to shudder at the touch or purr in response, but Goro spoke up.

“I can smell your fear, you know?”

Akira’s eyes snapped open under the covers.

“Sit up. We’re going to talk.”

“...Can I talk like this?” Akira whispered.

He heard Goro let out a growl of disdain before speaking again more firmly, “I said: Sit. Up.”

Akira shakily pushed himself up to support his upper body with his arms. With the lights on, he could see that he still had the body paint from the club on, though it was smearing. Goro had already washed all of his off. He was sitting with one leg up on the side of the bed and turned towards Akira.

He had a bottle of water in his hands and the little pill bag from the club.

“You need to take this.”

Akira eyed it, wondering if it was the same pill or maybe if Goro had swapped it for poison.

“It's not going to hurt you,” Goro spoke up, as if reading his mind. He extended both items to Akira. “It's going to be a problem for me if you get pregnant, so take it.”

“W-Wouldn’t killing me fix that problem?” Akira shifted so he could sit up and take the items.

“I’m not going to kill you.”

“You’re…not?” Akira still hesitated. He eyed the bag and glanced back up at Goro nervously. “Do I really need it? I-I mean, I’m not in heat. The chances of conceivi—”   
  
“My mother wasn’t in heat either. So are you going to take it willingly? Or do I have to force it down your throat?” Goro asked dryly.   
  
“I-I didn’t mean…” Akira cleared his throat and opened the bag. He put the pill on his tongue before unscrewing the bottle and drinking.

“Everyone already thinks you're dead… That’s good enough.” He fell silent while Akira downed his water.

Akira was so anxious about the whole exchange he coughed halfway through his third gulp, causing water to squirt from his lips. Goro, surprisingly, laughed.

“You’re an idiot.” Akira watched Goro get up and circle the room before heading over to where his briefcase was leaning up against his dresser. “Let’s talk about this, shall we?” He picked it up and popped open the lid so he could pull out Akira’s phone.

Akira’s eyes went wide at the sight of it.

“I had to wait a while before I could get you off me and out of the club… So I took the liberty of looking over what you’ve been up to.”

Akira gulped.

“I can’t believe you haven’t changed your password. I sat behind you at meetings for nearly a month, Akira. It never occurred to you that I would memorize your password?”

“W-Well, you never asked for my phon—”

“Maybe I should have!” Goro cut him off as he sat at the end of the bed. Akira could see that his phone screen was black. Goro had turned it off. “You and your friends are so stupid… Everything you did is right here in your stupid chat.” He waved the screen back and forth in front of Akira. Akira’s eyes followed it as his face turned red with embarrassment.

“I’m almost ashamed I was out-witted by a group so dumb, they leave evidence of their plans in plain sight. I knew I should have taken my phone back from Sakura when she snatched it.” Goro tapped the black screen. “That’s why I shut yours down. She probably has a tracker on you… But the last place she’ll have seen it when she wakes up is the club.”

Akira felt the water bottle shaking in his hands. No one was going to find him here at Goro’s apartment. He had no weapons, no phone, no clothes. The anxiety cascading down on him now was a million times worse than the separation anxiety he had been trying to escape.

Goro took his eyes off of him and tossed the phone away, onto the floor on the other side of the room. “And in all honesty, that plan of yours sounds like it had a few holes in it. Though maybe some context is missing from the chat. But I sincerely hope you weren’t just banking on Sae believing you to swap worlds. Surely there was more to the plan than that?”

Akira couldn’t answer. He just held the bottle between his hands and looked down.

“Akira?” Goro leaned forward and put his hand to the bottom of Akira’s chin and forced him to look up. “Well?”

“I—” Akira gasped. “I don’t want you to kill me—”

Goro pulled his hand back and looked shocked. “This again? I already said the belief you’re dead is good enough.”

“Then why?” Akira was shaking. “Why did you bring me here? Take my phone? My things?”

Goro motioned over to where he threw the phone away. “So your idiot friends wouldn't come get you!” Goro pinched his nose and sighed. “Akira, do you understand what you did tonight?”

Akira sat in silence. He knew he was supposed to answer, but—

Goro let go of his nose and pushed two fingers into Akira’s stomach, right onto the smudged heart. “You were going to let two dumbasses have their way with you.” Goro pushed hard on Akira’s stomach, making him gasp as he raised his voice. “Look at this; you barely resist being told what to do. You let them get you drunk, you let them drag you around. They more than likely slipped something into your drink! You’re worried about what I’m going to do to you? You didn’t care at all about what they were going to do! Why?”

Akira watched as Goro grew angrier with every second. He was mad about the club.

“I-I don’t know.”

“You don’t know!” Goro raised his voice again. That answer wasn’t acceptable. Akira had to have a reason for putting himself in danger. For putting what was  _ his _ in danger. “How the hell could you not know! You didn’t end up there by accident! Looking like that!”

“Well—” Akira pulled back, going on the defensive. “What about you?! Why were you there?!”

“This isn’t about me! I wasn’t the one who was a virgin until tonight!”

Akira felt his face burn. “Who told you that?”

“You did, idiot! When you were drunkenly passing out post-orgasm on my dick!”

“Well, it’s your stupid dick’s fault I ended up there in the first place!” Akira thrust his arm forward, splashing the rest of the water bottle onto Goro’s face and sheets. It felt right in the moment, but as he saw Goro’s frown deepen, the fear came rushing back.

“...What do you mean it’s ‘my dick’s fault’?”

Akira shook his head.

Goro sighed and rolled his head to the side. With a knowing smirk, he gave a command, “Answer me.”

“I—” Akira crushed the bottle in his hands. “I’ve been feeling sick.”

“Sick?”

“Since you tried to kill me...I feel lonely.” Akira stopped squeezing the bottle. “I just missed you, I guess. I thought it was just physical. I felt anxious and scared and ...lonely.”

“So you went to the club to replace me?”

Akira nodded. He thought Goro would be mad, but instead, a smile crept across his lips.

“I—! I know we’re not mates, but—”

“It's fine.” Goro pulled away. “I understand.”

“It is?” Akira felt himself exhale with relief. “You do?”

“Yes.” Goro pulled back the sheets and offered his hand to Akira. “I will be honest with you, for once… I was there for a similar reason.”

Akira reached out and took Goro’s hand. He allowed the alpha to pull him up from the bed and walk him to the bathroom.

“Go shower, so you get back some of your self-control. It will still take a while for the paint’s stimulants to fade, but they’re going to linger the longer they're on you.”

Akira nodded. He stepped into the bathroom and turned back around. “And then?” He watched Goro shrug. “You’re not going to kill me… And it's too late for me to go home, so…”

“Well, you can stay the night here. And borrow some clothes to go home in the morning.”

Akira put his hand on the door and hesitated. “Goro?”

“Hmn.”

“Can we… Can we try it again…without all the added complications?”

Goro hesitated. “You want to fuck again?”

“I mean… it felt… good, didn’t it? I mean, was it good just because I was under an influence or—”

“Are you saying you think the drinks and paint and whatever those two fucks did caused that reaction?” Goro narrowed his eyes. Akira didn’t answer, so he grabbed the door and pointed to the shower. “Go take your bath, and then get out here so I can remind you again that you are mine.”

Goro pulled the door, ripping it from Akira’s hands and slamming it shut. Akira parted his lips to inhale and smiled as he felt a chill run up his spine. He was scared and anxious, and needy all over again.

But for all the right reasons.

* * *

  
  


Epilogue

It was late when the bell jingled over the door to Leblanc.

Sojiro was behind the counter washing up dishes, with his jaw clenched tight, hoping the task would keep his errant and troubled thoughts away.

The booths were filled with tired, anxious teenagers and one cat who had been arriving one by one once evening settled in.

When the bell chimed, everyone turned toward the door with expectant eyes.

Makoto paused in the doorway, looking over the expressions of her teammates and their friend.

She sighed and shook her head. “Sis… Didn’t have anything.”

Ryuji let out a long, angry sigh before slamming his head down on the table. Ann reached over and began to pat his back.

“Come on in.” Sojiro motioned her to enter with a jerk of his head. “I’ve left a plate for you.”

“Thank you.” Makoto walked over to the counter to grab the plate before sliding into the booth next to Haru. The other senior wrapped an arm around her before letting her cheek rest against Makoto’s shoulder.

“What did your sister say?” Ann leaned forward across the table. “Maybe we can figure out some clues from—”

“Ann, I mean it. She had nothing. No cops or anyone in her department has said anything other than what they were saying yesterday. They’re all just celebrating the death of the Phantom Thieves’ leader.”

“He couldn’t have just vanished.” Yusuke sat between the wall and Ann. He had his sketch pad in hand, but had been writing down the list of places they’d checked and ideas they had about the disappearance of their leader.

“This is all my fault,” Morgana whined, his ears tilted back. Haru didn’t lift her head from Makoto’s shoulder, but she reached over to pet the cat’s head. “I should have never left him alone. I knew he wasn’t feeling well, but he said he just wanted space…”

“It’s not your fault, Mona,” Haru reassured him.

“No, it's mine!” Futaba had been furiously typing on her laptop since Makoto announced she had no leads. She had been digging through the web for any possible information, to see if anyone from the conspiracy had uncovered their plot, or if the ping on Akira’s phone had returned. “I know I should have updated the bugs in the cafe to visual. But I got complacent… I didn’t think I’d need more than audio… If I had just done so last month then we could have seen who—”

“Hey, breathe.” Ryuji lifted his head and reached over to put a hand on Futaba’s. They were all worried, but she had easily been the most distressed. Futaba was seated at the end of the table with a chair pulled up and her legs crossed in the seat. “No one blames you.”

“No one is blaming anyone!” Ann sat up in her seat.

“That’s right.” Makoto nodded. “We need to review what we know and regroup our thoughts.” Without Akira here it was her job to lead them. If she let everyone spiral into panic and fear, things would only get worse. “Let’s review what we know.”

“Akira left sometime after I left the cafe.” Morgana jumped up onto the table. “Or he was taken from the cafe.”

“The door wasn’t forced open, either. So I’m going to wager he left of his own accord.” Haru looked back at the door. “But the bell was taken off the hook. He didn’t want it to chime and be picked up by Futaba’s recordings.”

“The alternative would be that someone knew about the recordings and disarmed the bell.” Yusuke had flipped to a new page and started taking new notations, with little drawings of the clues on the side.

“But that would mean someone knew I was watching the place!” Futaba huffed. “And I didn’t pick up any voices. Plus the door was shut so quietly, I had to turn up the volume to hear it. And it only opened once!”

“So, Akira for sure left alone.” Ann held her hands out on the table. “And from there he went to—”

“His phone says Shinjuku.”

“Ann and I combed that place after school. We asked at his part time gig; we asked at the movie theater; we checked in any store that would let high schoolers in. No one had seen him.”

“Did you check the address it last pinged a location for?” Futaba glanced up at them.

“Yeah, we did.” Ann nodded. “I mean, the main part of the building was closed during the afternoon, but it's a club… We checked the shops above it. Because why would Akira go to  _ that _ place?”

“And before you get angry,” Ryuji cut Futaba off as she opened her mouth, “I did see a member of staff opening the doors to let workers in to set up before we left. She said they get so many guys with ‘short black hair’ and the club lights make it hard to see eye color unless they’re right up in their faces. So he could have gone there… but unless we showed her a picture...”

“Which would have been dangerous.” Makoto shook her head. “It's already dangerous that we’re going around asking about him. If the wrong person finds out he’s alive… Even if he’s not in danger, we could put him in it.”

The group collectively sighed.

“Yusuke,” Makoto turned to the artist, “what about your investigation? Any luck?”

Yusuke shook his head. “I spent the afternoon checking Akira’s part time jobs in Shibuya. He wasn’t at any of them, nor had his employers seen him. The man at the gun shop also had nothing to add. Togo-san and the boy at the arcade also hadn’t heard from him.”

“What about that politician in the square?” Haru asked.

“He wasn’t there today.”

Haru tapped her fingers on the table, “He wasn’t at any of his usual hangouts, either. The park, the fishing pond, I even went out to the planetarium…”

“I can’t believe Akira would just leave without some sort of notice.” Morgana shook his head. “I refuse to believe it! Someone must have him!”

“I agree… I think at this point, we should start checking Mementos.” Makoto looked around the table. “If we can’t find anything on the surface, we’ll turn our attention below it. Maybe the shadows will have something. They’re always whispering down there.”

“So that’s it, we’re just going to drive around randomly and ask shadows?”

“Well,” Haru looked to Makoto, “surely there’s more to it?”

“We can use the navi to lead us to anything abnormal or any particularly strong shadows. I think those would be our best be—”

“OH!” Futaba shouted, interrupting the conversation.

“What? What is it?” Ryuji leaned over to get a look at her screen.

“Akira’s phone turned on!”

“It did?!” Ann was now also out of her seat, trying to climb over Ryuji to get to the laptop.

“Where is he!?” Makoto slid to the end of her seat and leaned around the opposite side of Ryuji and Ann.

“He’s… outside…!” Futaba pushed her seat back and spun around.

Just as the thieves were going to question if she was correct, the door was pushed open.

Everyone turned their heads and watched, confused and shocked, as Akira entered the cafe, wearing his long winter coat and a pair of pressed khakis. He didn’t have his glasses.

Akira froze in the doorway, looking between the thieves and Sojiro, who was leaning over the counter. Everyone looked like they’d seen a ghost.

“Uh…” Akira stepped in and shut the door behind him. “Sorry I’m lat—”

“AKIRA!” Futaba was the first person up and running towards him.

Akira had no time to react before she slung her arms around him and began squeezing the air from his body.

“You’re all right!”

“Oh! Futaba!” Akira gasped. “Yeah, I’m fine… but my ribs won’t be.” He reached down and gave her a light hug.

The rest of the thieves scrambled out of the booth and ran towards him, all of their voices clamoring at once. Sojiro walked out from behind the counter to join them, arms crossed and looking very upset.

“Akira, where were you!?”

“I’m sorry, I just had to go out for a—”

“Dude, you had us scared something had happened to you!”

“I didn’t mean to be gone for more than a night—”

“How could you leave and not tell me?!”

“I’m sorry, I know. Things just took longer than expected—”

“What things? Akira, we’ve spent all day and all afternoon searching for you.”

“I just needed to take care of somethings for myse—”

“I told you, you could text me if you needed anything!”

The thieves continued to talk over Akira with a barrage of questions about how dangerous his little stunt was. How worried they were. And Akira kept trying to apologize and calm them down. As the conversation went on, Ann was the only one not asking questions.

She had been ready to unload on Akira like the others, but once they surrounded him, something caught her off-guard. Akira was wearing something different. He also smelled… different. Like he’d taken a bath, but not with his usual soaps. The rest of her teammates’ and Sojiro’s voices became drowned out as she scanned him over.

Why did he take a bath? And since when did he own khakis…?

“Akira.” Ann stepped forward, and the calm tone in her voice made everyone stop. Ann stood up straight and looked him in the eyes. Akira felt himself smile nervously.

“Yes, Ann?”

“Are those Akechi’s pants?”

The smile dropped from Akira’s face. Everyone else stood still.

Finally, Ryuji spoke up, stuttering, “Come on, what? Ann? Are you for real?”

Akira laughed, but it was stilted. He broke eye contact with Ann, but realized Haru and Makoto were now looking down at his pants as well.

“No, they’re just… pants.” Akira forcefully pried Futaba off of him and shuffled around Ann in an attempt to start for the stairs. “I just… Had an incident and had to replace my other ones. They ripped.”

“And you bought… Those…” Makoto’s eyes drifted up to Akira’s face.

“Yup.” Akira nodded, almost too much as he side-stepped her.

“Come on, you two!” Ryuji turned to the two alphas. “It's not like that idiot owns the market on tan pants!”

“Exactly!” Akira stood beside Ryuji, thankful his friend was on his side. And thankful his nose wasn’t as good as the girls’. Leave it to Ann to zero in on a fashion change.

“It is unusual that you’re wearing such a heavy coat, though.” Yusuke folded his arms and frowned, inspecting Akira. “Are you cold?”

“Oh, yeah, just had a bit of chill,” he shrugged.

“There are marks.” Haru’s eyes had moved up from Akrai’s legs. She pointed to the side of his neck. “Are those… hickies?”

Akira reached up to touch the side of his neck. “No, they’re bug bites! I got them… at the fishing pond!”

“I went to the fishing pond… You didn’t go there.” Haru shook her head.

“Akira…” Futaba was now staring at him, all the joy in her face washed away with suspicion. “Where were you? Your phone was turned off—”

“I told you guys!” Akira backed up away from the group; he was now standing next to Sojiro. “I went to the pond to try and relax… And I had an accident. I fell! Into the pond. And my pants ripped. And my phone got wet so I had to turn it off—”

“That doesn't explain why you didn’t come home,” Sojiro scolded him.

“Well, I, well—”

“Come on, boss!” Ryuji stuck up for him. The only member of the group still buying his excuses. “What matters is that Akira’s home and he’s all right!”

Akira smiled at Ryuji. “I know I worried you guys! I’m sorry!” He took another step back, his hands up as he inched away from the group of suspicious stares. “I’ll be able to explain everything better tomorrow. After I get some rest. I promise!”

His eyes darted from one face to another. They were clearly still bothered, but the tension in the room was starting to relax as they came to a general agreement that what mattered was that he was home.

“All right, you rest tonight.” Sojiro shook his head. “All of you. And tomorrow have a proper discussion about communication.”

Akira let out a sigh of relief. He lowered his hands and smiled at his friends, just as the door to the cafe opened.

And his face paled.

Everyone turned around to stare at Akechi Goro standing in the doorway.

“You!” Makoto moved first, taking a step forward to put herself between Goro and the group. Following her lead, all of the thieves stood together, forming a human barrier between the detective and their leader.

“What are you doing here?!” Haru practically screamed at the top of her lungs.

“If you think we’re going to let you in here without a fight, you’ve got another thing coming!” Ryuji put his fist up.

Goro looked at the group of angry thieves, then peered through them at Akira.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out Akira’s glasses with a smirk.

“You forgot these.” He calmly turned and put them on the counter. The rest of the thieves watched him, wide-eyed. He returned their shock with his brightest TV smile and a laugh. “I’ll see you all at the next meeting.”

He then turned and walked out of the cafe.

Ann was the first one to turn and look at Akira. “Not his pants, huh?”

Everyone else looked back at him, clearly angry.

Akira took a deep breath as he felt his stomach twist up in knots.

It was going to take a lot of sex to calm him down after this.

  
  
  



End file.
